


Puppy Love

by thealternativeroute



Category: Fifth Harmony (Band)
Genre: AU, F/F, just fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-15
Updated: 2015-09-15
Packaged: 2018-04-20 22:01:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,083
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4803818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thealternativeroute/pseuds/thealternativeroute
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Person A inexplicably bringing home an animal and refusing to drop it at the shelter so they and person B have to take care of it.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Puppy Love

“Hey Dinah!” Lauren called out at the sound of their apartment door opening and closing. She waited a few moments for a reply, but looked up from her book to find the room empty when none came.

“Dinah?”

Silence.

Frowning, Lauren marked her page with a bookmark and got up to look for her elusive roommate. Knocking on the door to Dinah’s bedroom she called out once more.  
“Dinah? Are you in there? Are you OK?”

She waited in silence for a few moments before the door finally cracked open and Dinah poked her head out.

“Hey, Lo.” The taller girl greeted with a nervous smile. “How was class today? Prof still on your ass about applying for your practical placements?”

“Yeah, he just won’t let me be.” Lauren chuckled. “Are you OK though? You normally sit with me when you get back from the studio. I thought you were mad at me about something.”

Dinah shook her head quickly to dispel the notion. “Of course not.”

“Is it Siope, then? Did you guys have a fight? Do I need to beat his a-” A strange sound, like a strangled cough, coming from within Dinah’s room interrupted her mid speech. Realisation overtook Lauren’s face as she hastily backtracked.

“Oh God, is he in there? I’m sorry! Look if you guys need me to go out tonight so you can have some time together I can – Camz has been bugging me about having a movie night for ages so I can go th-”

“Lauren! It’s fine, you don’t have to leave. Siope’s not here.”

“What was that sound , then? It sounded like someone was in there.” Lauren asked, eyebrows forming a straight line in confusion.

“It was nothing, Lauren. You’ve been on your own all day, you’re probably just hearing things.” Dinah deflected, eyes darting around nervously. Not convinced, Lauren decided to let it drop for the moment.

“Alright… Well if you’ve nothing better to do, come sit with me while I make us dinner. You can tell me all about your day!” Dinah opened her mouth to refuse, but Lauren cut in again. “I’ll let you choose the music!”

Looking conflicted for a moment, Dinah looked back at Lauren apologetically. “Sorry, I’m tired. I’ll talk to you tomorrow, yeah?”

Disappointed, Lauren felt herself deflate a little. “Alright then. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Walking away, she pondered the strange way Dinah was acting. It was unlike the girl to want to be alone, even if she was ‘tired’. Normally she was a bubble of energy who loved to be around people. And while Lauren acted like it annoyed her, her favourite part of her days was when Dinah would bug her while she was reading until they were dancing around their apartment before collapsing onto the couch and cuddling and giggling about their days.

Lauren and Dinah had first met in their freshmen year of college, and became immediate friends despite their apparent opposite personalities. Lauren was studying teaching and literature while Dinah studied social work – Dinah had left in her sophomore year when their friend Normani asked her to open a dance studio and school with her, and Lauren continued to study and currently was pursuing a Master in Early Childhood Education. They moved in together 3 months into Lauren’s postgrad, when both went through almost simultaneous break ups. Now Dinah was dating football hopeful Siope, and Lauren?

Well, Lauren was hopelessly infatuated with Dinah. Having harboured a small crush on the other girl for years, it quickly grew once they were in close proximity for much of their time. Seeing her around the kids she worked with at the studio made her heart melt even more and before she knew it she was head over heels for the last girl she’d ever imagined falling for. Dinah had known she was gay from pretty much the first time they met, but Lauren knew she had no idea about the feelings her best friend was harbouring for her, even if anyone else could spot it in a second. Knowing they weren’t reciprocated hurt, but Lauren was happy as long as Dinah was happy, so she was nice to Siope whenever he was around and hoped that he would be good to her best friend.

-

It had been four days, and Dinah was still acting as elusive as that first evening. She spent almost all her time in the apartment locked up in her room, avoiding Lauren’s probing questions and panicking when Lauren tried to get into her room to vacuum on Friday evening. The green eyed girl had no idea what she had done to make Dinah act this way, and had resigned herself to just waiting it out and hoping for Dinah to return to her normal, energetic self.

Waking up early on Saturday morning with her bladder set to burst, Lauren groggily made her way out of her bedroom, stumbling down the hall as best she could in the dark towards the bathroom. Flicking the light switch on, she recoiled as her eyes burned at the sudden stimulation. She quickly finished her business in the bathroom and left, making her way back down the hall to the bed she could almost hear calling her name. Shuffling past Dinah’s room, she heard a scratching and quiet yelping that made her stop in her tracks. Pausing , she listened closely to the sound coming from within the bedroom – knowing Dinah had a history of sleep talking, she wasn’t too worried, but the persistent scratching sound that came with it concerned her a little. Moving over to the doorway, she knocked lightly and called out.

“Dinah?”

The scratching became more frantic at this and Lauren knocked again before slowly turning the doorknob and pushing the door open to some resistance. Struggling to see in the dark, Lauren felt her heart stop for a moment when something soft and furry pressed up against her leg, causing her to cry out in alarm. Clutching her hand to her chest, Lauren caught her breath while fumbling around for the hall light switch. Light spilled into Dinah’s room from the hallway, confirming Lauren’s suspicions.

A dog.

There was a dog in front of her, wagging its tail frantically at her as it struggled to contain its excitement at its perceived friend. In her shock, Lauren forgot for a moment that Dinah was there at all, but the other girls voice cut through her haze after a moment.

“Ralph? Is that you?”

Does she not realise there is a dog in her room? Whose dog is it? Why is it here? A thousand questions rattled though Lauren’s head as she stared incredulously at her best friend, so taken aback that she didn’t even notice how cute the taller girl looked with her sleep mussed hair and squinty eyes.

“Dinah?” She managed to croak out after an extended silence. “Why is there a dog in here?”

This seemed to wake Dinah up instantly, rubbing her eyes to clear the sleep from them and sitting up straight in bed, a guilty expression on her face.

“Oh my god, Lauren. I’m sorry – I was gonna tell you eventually, I swear. It’s just he was so cute and alone and-” Dinah rambled until Lauren put a hand up and interrupted her.

“Dinah! Stop. You’re not making any sense. Start again. Whose dog is this?” The puppy, despite Lauren’s complete lack of reaction, was pressing his head into her leg and licking her hand in an attempt to get her attention.

Dinah paused for a moment, swallowing loudly before speaking again, considerably more composed than previously. “Well, the thing is… it’s ours. I guess. I mean, I don’t know who he actually belongs to. But me and Ally found him abandoned near the park and we didn’t wanna leave him at the pound, who knows what would happen to him. So… I brought him home. If that’s okay with you, I mean. I know I didn’t ask you, I’m sorry, but I was trying to think of the right way to ask. Is this okay?”

Lauren knew she should say no, that their 900 sq ft apartment was no place to be raising a dog, especially not in New York, and that neither of them really had the time or the experience to raise him properly, but she took one look at the scene in front of her and knew she was going to say yes. Dinah was still wrapped up in blankets, and the puppy (having given up on any hope for affection from Lauren) had jumped up and was curled up in Dinah’s lap, the two of them such a cute pair that Lauren just sighed deeply and accepted her fate.

“What’s his name, then?”

-

“DINAH JANE HANSEN! I SWEAR IF YOU DO NOT CALM YOUR DOG DOWN RIGHT NOW I WILL SEND HIM TO THE POUND, SO HELP ME GOD!”

Oliver, now three months old and in no way aware of his burgeoning size and strength, careened around the corner from the hallway, losing his grip on the lacquered floor and colliding with a chair – sending it toppling to the ground and him sliding across the floor and into the wall. In no way deterred, he got back up and continued to manically sprint around the table at which Lauren sat. Every day around 4:30 in the afternoon Oliver seemed to become overwhelmed by energy, sprinting madly around their small apartment for however long it took to wear him down, at which point he jumped onto the couch and promptly passed out for the next hour.

“You know it’s no use, Lo. He’s a madman. There’s no use trying to train him. It’s in his nature.” Dinah calls back to Lauren as she lays on the couch scrolling through twitter on her phone.

Lauren snorts as she answers back. “Yeah, of course. There’s no one else that acts that recklessly around him with no consequences.”

Dinah at least has the decency to look a little guilty as she answers. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, Lauser.”

“Didn’t you break the coffee table trying to recreate Beyonce’s 7/11 music video last month? Or have I made that up?”

Dinah sighs deeply. “No, that was me.”

“And then just last week you got so excited about a dance recital that you threw your phone against the wall and cracked its screen!”

The taller girl glares back at her. “Hey, I’m not over that yet. I still can’t take selfies because the camera is broken and you won’t loan me the money to get it fixed!”

“I’m not a bank, Dinah. You can get it fixed after you get paid.”

“Which isn’t until the end of next week. I’m dying, Lauren. And you have no sympathy for me at all!” Dinah cries as she throws her hands up in the air.

Oliver, who has stopped trying to set the land speed record and is actually somewhat aware of his surroundings, mistakes this as an invitation to cuddle and leaps up onto Dinah’s stomach and nuzzles into her neck. Lauren laughs as Dinah groans at the sudden impact and turns back to the laptop on the table in front of her.

-

Oliver is 4 months old before Lauren realises she has no idea what breed their dog is. She’s out for coffee with Ally and Camila and the three of them are wandering through the park as Oliver terrorises birds down at the pond in its center. A small child wanders up to Oliver and pets him and he remains remarkably still while she does, but Lauren nonetheless hurries over to make sure Oliver doesn’t actually end up killing the girl while he tries to “play”. Oliver wags his tail at her and nudges her hand to ask for a head rub. She obliges and turns back to the little girl, who is still staring at Oliver like she is in love. Lauren reflects for a moment about how children see the good in everything and how this girl has failed to see the pure evil in her dog’s eyes, before she is brought from her thoughts by a question from the girl’s mother.

“Oh, he’s beautiful,” she gushed. “What type of dog is he?”

Lauren freezes for a moment in panic before managing to get words out. “Um, well…”

“She has no idea.” Comes Camila’s voice from behind her, the other girl and Ally catching up to Lauren.

Lauren grinned sheepishly. “She’s right. Me and my friend adopted him after he was abandoned. He’s definitely a mutt though. We think he’s a mix of German shepherd and Alsatian but we’re really just guessing. He could be part wolf for all I know.”

The little girl pauses at Lauren’s words and seems frightened. Lauren realises her mistake and goes to backtrack, but Ally gets there first.

“Don’t be silly, Lauren. Wolves can’t have babies with dogs! Oliver’s just a dog.” Lauren’s not sure if that’s objectively true, but she doesn’t press the issue in front of the child. The girls make small talk with the woman for a few minutes but then continue around the park once again, theorising about the origins of Lauren’s satanic dog. Inevitably the conversation turns back to Lauren’s roommate, and Ally suggests that Lauren invite her out to dinner with them that evening.

“I can’t.” Lauren says simply. “She’s on a date with Siope. It’s their anniversary.”

Camila rolls her eyes at the jealous tone of her friends voice. “When are you going to tell her how you feel, Lauren? It’s been so long.”

“And it’ll be longer still, Camz. I’m not risking our friendship over this.”

“Don’t you think she wonders about why you never date anyone?” Camila presses. “You’d be perfect together, Lo. I’m telling you.”

“Siope is good for her. And that’s that.” Lauren tries to finish the conversation, but her friends have other ideas.

“You’re good for her.” Ally states. “I’ve never seen you act like the way you do towards her towards anyone else.”

“What do you mean?” Lauren asks, brows furrowed in confusion. Camila laughs out loud at this, and pokes Lauren in the side as she teases her.

“She’s got you whipped, Lauren.” Lauren looks to Ally in protest, but the older girl just nods in agreement.

“You cook, you clean, you do all the shopping-”

“She’s busy!”

“So are you! You let her keep Oliver- the dog who makes more mess than I do, and that’s saying something – you let her play Beyoncé as loud as she wants, whenever she wants. You always let her choose what’s on the TV-”

“We like the same shows!”

Camila glares at her pointedly. “Last time I was over, you let her watch four straight episodes of Toddlers & Tiaras. You hate that show, Lauren. Maia told me she tried to watch it with you one time and she thought you were literally going to break up with her on the spot.”

Lauren sighs dejectedly.

“OK, so maybe you’re right. But-“ She interrupts Camila and Ally’s little celebration. “I’m still not telling her. No way.”

The two girls nod their acceptance. Baby steps, they think.

-

Three weeks later, Lauren is laying on the couch with Oliver as she reads, when Dinah comes home, bypassing Lauren silently and shutting herself in her room. It’s the first time she’s done this since the week she brought Oliver home, and Lauren is briefly concerned that Dinah has brought another animal home, before she hears quiet sobs coming from inside and she is filled with concern. Bookmarking her page and shoving a very reluctant Oliver off her legs, she makes her way to Dinah’s door and knocks.

“DJ? Are you OK?” Lauren hears sniffling from inside before Dinah answers in a weak voice.

“I’m fine. Thanks, Ralph.”

Not convinced, Lauren knocks again. “Dinah. I’m coming in.”

She pushes the door open and enters the room, heart breaking at the sight in front of her. Dinah is curled up in the fetal position on her bed, eyes red and puffy from tears, and mascara leaving tracks down her cheeks.

“Oh, sweetie.” Lauren sighs lightly as she walks over and lays down next to her, pulling Dinah into her arms as the taller girl sobbed. They lay like that for 15 minutes, Dinah soaking Lauren’s shirt through with tears until she eventually calmed down, breathing deeply as she dried her eyes. Minutes pass again in silence before Lauren speaks up.

“What happened, Dinah?” She says, voice laced with concern. It is rare to see Dinah cry like this, and Lauren is already planning her revenge on whoever hurt her best friend like this.  
Dinah’s voice cracks as she goes to speak. “Si-siope… he cheated on me.”

Lauren’s heart stops for a moment, before she’s filled with rage at the boy. She wants to get up and find him, but she knows Dinah needs her support right now.

“He’s an asshole, D. He doesn’t deserve you.” Dinah manages a small smile at that, before she’s overtaken with self pity again.

“He was good to me. I thought he was the one, honestly. Who else is gonna love me like he did?”

Me, Lauren thought, before hastily shoving that thought into the back of her mind, a lump forming in her throat.

“There’s plenty of people out there who can love you better than he ever did, D. You don’t need him. One day he’s gonna realise that he chose Jessica Simpson when he already had Rihanna.” Dinah chokes out a laugh at the quote and Lauren smiles, glad to have made Dinah feel a little better.

“Thanks, Lo. You’re right. I don’t need him. I’m better than him. Besides, I’ve got you.” Lauren’s heart leaps in her chest even as she accepts that Dinah doesn’t mean that in the way she wants her to. For a crazy moment, she wants to spill everything, but instead she bites her tongue and holds Dinah closer. The two girls are peaceful for a moment before they hear a loud crash and a strangled yelp come from the direction of the kitchen.

“I hate this fucking dog. Honestly, DJ, I do.”

The smile on Dinah’s face as she laughs makes her heart feel lighter than air.

-

“Dance with me, Lauren.”

Lauren doesn’t even look up from her laptop as she continues to tap away at the keyboard. She’s working on her final ever paper for college, and to say she’s stressed would be an understatement. Oliver had caused her to spill water over her laptop two weeks ago, and while by some miracle she’d managed to get it repaired, she was now behind on her work. Not to mention her relationship with Dinah. The two of them had been even more cuddly and affectionate than usual, even flirty at times, since Dinah and Siope’s breakup three months previously, but despite Ally and Camila’s (and even Normani’s) pleads, Lauren was still no closer to confessing her feelings than before. Lauren believed that Dinah was only acting this way as a method of coping with the breakup, and this belief was only enforced by Dinah’s crushing on almost every remotely cute guy she met.

“Lauren, pleeeeaase.” Dinah whines, and Lauren resists looking over even as she pictures the pouty face she is no doubt making.

“Dance with Oliver, Dinah. He’s got better moves than I do.”

“He doesn’t have your ass, though.” Lauren can feel herself blushing and she curses herself for reacting so strongly to Dinah’s flirty words.

“Speaking of, where is Oliver?” Lauren deflects, finally giving up on doing any semblance of work. Oliver has been mysteriously absent from her awareness for the last fifteen minutes, which probably means he’s shredded her pillows or something equally inconvenient.

“He was chasing a cockroach last I saw him.” Dinah shrugs, laughing as Lauren scrunches her face up in disgust.

“Ew, a cockroach?Why didn’t you kill it?”

“That’s what we have a dog for, dummy. What else do you think he does all day? He’s better than any bug spray.” Lauren shakes her head at Dinah, turning back to her laptop again.

“Noooo, Lauren.” Dinah whines again. “Pay attention to me, I’m cute.”

Lauren doesn’t even respond to her, trying in vain to stay focussed on the task at hand.

“Pleaaasssse, Ralph. Dance with me. The studio’s been closed all week, I’m gonna lose all my skills.”

Lauren rolls her eyes good naturedly. “And booty popping to Beyoncé counts as practicing your “skills”?”

“Exactly!” Dinah says brightly, grabbing Lauren’s hand and dragging her out of her chair and towards their living space. Lauren groans as she reluctantly sways half-heartedly to a song she doesn’t recognise.

“Come on, Lo!” Dinah exclaims as she dances around the living room, throwing in her dorkiest moves in an attempt to get Lauren to loosen up. Lauren laughs at how ridiculous Dinah looks, but before she knows it she’s doing the sprinkler and twerking to Anaconda while Dinah cheers her on. They goof for a few more songs, and Lauren is happier than she’s been for a while when she realises it’s her that is putting the megawatt smile on Dinah’s face. All of a sudden the mood changes as a slow song comes on, but before Lauren has a chance to stop or sit down, Dinah has grabbed her and manoeuvred her limbs until they are slow dancing to John Legend’s ‘All of Me’. It’s more intimate than Lauren expected and she feels almost uncomfortable as they sway back and forth for a while before Dinah speaks up.

“You know, I never got to thank you for being there for me when all that shit with Siope went down.” Dinah says quietly as she looks at Lauren. Lauren turns her head to make eye contact and she feels her heart become overwhelmed by the tenderness she sees in the taller girls eyes.

“It’s nothing, Dinah, really.” She reassures her and gets a gentle smile in return. The two girls sway slowly to the song once more, and Lauren rests her head on Dinah’s chest, feeling content in the other girl’s arms.

The moment they are having is of course destined to be ruined by Oliver, spawn of Satan, who comes bounding out of the hall with feathers stuck in his fur and crashes straight into the two of them, sending them down to the ground in a mess of limbs. Lauren lands straight on top of Dinah and she hurriedly sits up to see if the other girl is alright.

“Oh my god, Dinah, are you OK?” She says as she runs her hands over the blonde’s face to check for bruises. Dinah just groans from underneath her.

“Fucking dog!” She exclaims, which sends the two of them into a heap of giggles, Lauren collapsing back onto Dinah as she laughs.

Catching her breath after a minute or so she braces her arms on either side of Dinah’s head and stares down at her. They’re nearly nose to nose, and Lauren wants so badly to kiss her in this moment, that she’s almost disappointed with herself when she starts to lean back up and away from her. Dinah, however, had no such conflictions and leans up swiftly to capture Lauren’s lips with her own. It takes Lauren so by surprise that she jerks back and almost squeaks. Dinah immediately starts apologising.

“Oh my god, Lauren, I’m so sorry. I shouldn-” She’s cut off by Lauren ducking down to reconnect their lips, living the moment she has imagined for the last four years. Dinah eagerly kisses her back, running her hands up and down Lauren’s sides as the smaller girl bites her lip playfully before pulling away slowly. Dinah’s chest heaves as she tries to catch her breath, staring up at Lauren with wide eyes.

“That was… wow.” She breathes, a giddy smile overtaking her features.

Lauren smiles bashfully back at her. “You liked it?”

“Liked it? Lauren, god… why haven’t we done that before? I never want to stop.”

Lauren laughs disbelievingly as she throws her head back, tears pricking at her eyes as her heart swells at Dinah’s words.

“What’s so funny?” Dinah asks, frowning a little at Lauren’s reaction. Lauren looks back at her, eyes filled with adoration.

“You know, Dinah? I am so glad you brought this dog home.”


End file.
